With all the excitement surrounding Adam Wingard’s Blair Witch, I think it’s easy to forget that he’s also got another high-profile movie in the works: the Netflix live-action adaptation of the wildly popular anime/manga Death Note, which was written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.
Now, it’s been revealed by Mashable that Willem Dafoe (Spiderman, The Boondock Saints, Antichrist) has been confirmed as the voice of Ryuk the Shinigami, the demonic entity that drops the Death Note book in the human realm for his own personal amusement.
Wingard proclaims, “I am honored to be working with this great cast and I look forward to bringing Tsugumi and Takeshi’s unique story to a global audience.”
“‘Death Note’ follows a high school student who comes across a supernatural notebook, realizing it holds within it a great power; if the owner inscribes someone’s name into it while picturing their face, he or she will die. Intoxicated with his new godlike abilities, the young man begins to kill those he deems unworthy of life.”
The movie stars Nat Wolff (Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars) as Light Turner; Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys, The Leftovers) as Mia Sutton; Keith Stanfield (Straight Outta Compton, Dope, Short Term 12) as “L”; Paul Nakauchi (Alpha and Omega) as Watari; and Shea Whigham (“Agent Carter”, “Boardwalk Empire”) as James Turner.
The film will be produced by Roy Lee (The Ring, The Departed), Dan Lin (The Lego Movie, Sherlock Holmes), Jason Hoffs (Edge of Tomorrow), and Masi Oka (“Heroes Reborn”, “Hawaii-Five-0”).
Lee and Din add, “Our vision for Death Note has always been to bring this captivating story to the screen for its longtime manga fans and to introduce the world to this dark and mysterious masterpiece. The talent and diversity represented in our cast, writing, and producing teams reflect our belief in staying true to the story’s concept of moral relevance — a universal theme that knows no racial boundaries.”
